JP7223613B2 - Watch parts, movements, watches and methods of manufacturing watch parts - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a watch component, a movement, a watch, and a method for manufacturing a watch component.

In order to reduce the weight and increase the accuracy of timepiece parts, a technology for manufacturing timepiece parts by silicon processing using MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) is used.

Silicon parts used in watches are manufactured by masking a silicon substrate with a photoresist and etching the silicon substrate by RIE (Reactive Ion Etching), for example, as described in Patent Document 1 below. It is However, silicon parts have the problem that they are difficult to put into practical use because there is a possibility that cracks or cleavages may occur from defects that occur in the cross-sectional direction during processing.

As a countermeasure against this problem, Patent Literature 1 below discloses a method for manufacturing a silicon component in which the silicon surface is treated with hydrogen gas to round corners and improve impact resistance. Further, Patent Document 2 listed below discloses a method of manufacturing a micromechanical component in which an oxide film is formed on a silicon surface.

JP 2016-173356 A Japanese Patent Publication No. 2012-533441

The method for manufacturing a silicon component described in Patent Document 1 and the method for manufacturing a micromechanical component described in Patent Document 2 require the use of special gases and expensive equipment, and the processing takes a long time. need. Therefore, there is room for improvement in terms of productivity and cost in order to increase the strength of silicon parts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a timepiece component, a movement, a timepiece, and a method of manufacturing the timepiece component that can increase strength at a low cost.

A timepiece component according to a first aspect comprises a metal layer provided on at least one side of a silicon material in the thickness direction, and a canopy formed on at least a part of the metal layer, the metal layer protruding from the side surface of the silicon material. and

According to the first aspect, the metal layer is provided on at least one surface in the thickness direction of the silicon material. At least a portion of the metal layer is formed with a canopy portion in which the metal layer protrudes from the side surface of the silicon material. As a result, for example, defects such as notches generated by reactive ion etching (RIE) are protected by the metal layer and the eaves, so direct application of force to defects such as notches is suppressed, and breaking strength is improved. Rise. Therefore, the strength of the timepiece component can be increased at low cost.

A timepiece component according to a second aspect is, in the first aspect, provided with the metal layer and the eaves on both sides in the thickness direction of the silicon material.

According to the second aspect, since the metal layer and the eaves are provided on both sides in the thickness direction of the silicon material, the direct application of force to defects such as notches is more reliably suppressed, and the breaking strength is further improved. Rise.

A timepiece component according to a third aspect is, in the first aspect or the second aspect, wherein the silicon material has a through hole penetrating in a thickness direction, and the silicon material comprises the metal layer and the silicon material. The eaves portion projecting toward the through hole is provided, and the eaves portion is deformed toward the through hole in a state in which the shaft portion of the driving member is driven into the through hole of the silicon material. The deformed portion holds the shaft portion in the through hole of the silicon material. Here, the through-holes include both circumferentially closed through-holes and circumferentially partially open through-holes.

According to the third aspect, the silicon material having the through holes is provided with the metal layer and the overhanging portion projecting toward the through holes of the silicon material. Then, in a state in which the shaft portion of the driving member is driven into the through hole of the silicon material, the shaft portion is held in the through hole of the silicon material by the deformed portion in which the eaves portion is deformed toward the through hole. For example, in a state in which the shaft of the pinion is driven into the through hole of the silicon material of the hairspring, the shaft of the pinion is held in the through hole of the silicon material by the deformation portion. Therefore, the shaft portion of the driving member can be easily positioned and fixed in the through hole of the silicon material, thereby improving productivity.

A timepiece component according to a fourth aspect is, in the first aspect or the second aspect, wherein the silicon material has a through hole penetrating in a thickness direction, and the silicon material comprises the metal layer and the silicon material. The eaves portion projecting toward the through hole is provided, and the eaves portion is deformed toward the through hole in a state in which the shaft portion of the driving member is driven into the through hole of the silicon material. The shaft portion is held in the through hole of the adjacent silicon material by the deformation portion and the adhesive filled between the shaft portion and the silicon material. Here, the through-holes include both circumferentially closed through-holes and circumferentially partially open through-holes.

According to the fourth aspect, the silicon material having the through holes is provided with the metal layer and the overhanging portion projecting toward the through holes of the silicon material. Then, in a state in which the shaft portion of the driving member is driven into the through hole of the silicon material, the deformed portion in which the eaves portion is deformed toward the through hole side and the adhesive filled between the shaft portion and the silicon material. , the shaft portion is held in the through hole of the silicon material. For example, in a state in which the pinion shaft is driven into the through hole of the silicon material of the hairspring, the pinion shaft is held in the through hole of the silicon material by the deformation portion and the adhesive. Therefore, the shaft portion of the driving member can be easily positioned and fixed in the through hole of the silicon material, thereby improving productivity.

A timepiece component according to a fifth aspect is the timepiece component according to the fourth aspect, wherein the adhesive is filled between the shaft portion and the silicon material from the opposite side of the deformed portion in the axial direction of the shaft portion. .

According to the fifth aspect, since the adhesive is filled between the shaft and the silicone material from the opposite side of the axially deformed portion of the shaft, the adhesive is filled on the opposite side of the axially deformed portion of the shaft. The flow of the adhesive can be suppressed by the deformed portion when the adhesive is filled between the shaft portion and the silicon material. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the adhesive from oozing out to unnecessary portions of the driving member.

A timepiece component according to a sixth aspect is any one of the first aspect to the fifth aspect, wherein the overhang part covers a part of the side surface from the thickness direction surface of the silicon material. .

According to the sixth aspect, since the eaves part covers from the surface in the thickness direction of the silicon material to part of the side surface, direct application of force to defects such as notches is more reliably suppressed, and the breaking strength is improved. rise further.

A timepiece component according to a seventh aspect is, in any one of the second aspect to the sixth aspect, configured such that the eaves contact a sliding surface of another member.

According to the seventh aspect, the eaves contact the sliding surface of another member, and the contact area between the eaves and the sliding surface is small, so the coefficient of friction is reduced. Therefore, the eaves portion and the sliding surface can be slid relatively smoothly.

A timepiece component according to an eighth aspect is, in the seventh aspect, in which a lubricant is held between the side surface of the silicon material provided with the eaves and the sliding surface.

According to the eighth aspect, since the lubricant is held between the side surface of the silicon material having the eaves and the sliding surface, the eaves and the sliding surface can slide more smoothly. can.

A timepiece component according to a ninth aspect is any one aspect from the first aspect to the eighth aspect, wherein the silicon material has a negative temperature coefficient of Young's modulus between 0 and 100°C. The metal layer is made of a metal material having a positive temperature coefficient of Young's modulus between 0 and 100.degree.

According to the ninth aspect, the silicon material has a negative temperature coefficient of Young's modulus between 0 and 100° C., and the metal material forming the metal layer has a temperature coefficient of Young's modulus of 0. It has a positive coefficient between ~100°C. As a result, the negative and positive temperature coefficients are offset by the silicon material and the metal layer on at least one side of the silicon material, and the temperature coefficient can be brought close to zero. As a result, the accuracy of timepiece components with respect to temperature changes is improved.

A movement according to a tenth aspect comprises the timepiece component according to any one of the first to ninth aspects.

According to the tenth aspect, it is possible to increase the strength of the timepiece parts forming the movement at low cost.

A timepiece according to an eleventh aspect has the movement according to the tenth aspect.

According to the eleventh aspect, it is possible to increase the strength of timepiece components constituting the timepiece at low cost.

A method for manufacturing a timepiece component according to a twelfth aspect includes the steps of: forming a metal layer having a predetermined pattern on at least one surface of a silicon substrate; and forming an eaves portion in which the metal layer protrudes from the side surface of the silicon substrate.

According to the twelfth aspect, a metal layer having a predetermined pattern is formed on at least one side of the silicon substrate. Then, the silicon substrate is processed by reactive ion etching to form a canopy portion in which the metal layer protrudes from the side surface of the silicon substrate in at least a part of the metal layer. As a result, defects such as notches generated by reactive ion etching (RIE) are protected by the metal layer and the eaves, so direct application of force to defects such as notches is suppressed, and the breaking strength is increased. . Therefore, the strength of the timepiece component can be increased at low cost.

A method for manufacturing a timepiece component according to a thirteenth aspect is the method according to the twelfth aspect, wherein after the reactive ion etching, wet plating is applied to the side surface of the silicon substrate to further project the eaves.

According to the thirteenth aspect, by applying wet plating after reactive ion etching, the eaves can be further projected from the side surface of the silicon substrate. As a result, direct application of force to defects such as notches by the eaves is more reliably suppressed, and the breaking strength of the timepiece component is further increased.

According to the present application, the strength of timepiece components can be increased at low cost.

FIG. 1(A) is a plan view showing the hairspring of the first embodiment, and FIG. 1(B) is a sectional view taken along line 1B-1B in FIG. 1(A). FIG. 2(A) is a perspective view showing a part of the hairspring according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 2(B) is a cross-sectional view showing part of the hairspring according to the first embodiment. be. 3A to 3G are cross-sectional views showing an example of the method for manufacturing the hairspring according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view showing the vicinity of the hair ball of the hairspring of the first embodiment, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view showing a step of driving a pinion into the hair ball of the hairspring. FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a state in which a pinion is driven into the ball of the hairspring of the first embodiment. FIG. 6(A) is a plan view showing the hair ball of the hairspring of the first embodiment viewed from above, and FIG. FIG. 10 is a bottom view shown in a state viewed from above; FIG. 7 is a side view showing another example of Kana. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a step of driving a pinion into the ball of the hairspring of the second embodiment. FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing a state in which a pinion is driven into the hair ball of the hair spring of the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which an adhesive is filled between the hair ball and pinion of the hair spring of the second embodiment. FIG. 11A is a cross-sectional view showing a first example in which a metal layer is formed on the upper side of a silicon wafer by electroplating, and FIG. It is a cross-sectional view showing a second example in which the is formed. FIG. 12 is a plan view showing the escape wheel & pinion of the third embodiment. FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the teeth of the escape wheel & pinion of the third embodiment. 14A to 14G are cross-sectional views showing an example of the method of manufacturing the escape wheel & pinion of the third embodiment. FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing the teeth of the escape wheel & pinion of the fourth embodiment. FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing the teeth of the escape wheel & pinion of the fifth embodiment. FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the teeth used in the escape wheel & pinion of the fifth embodiment are brought into contact with the pawl of the pallet fork. FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view showing an example in which lubricating oil is applied between the teeth and the pawl of the pallet for the escape wheel and wheel according to the fifth embodiment. FIG. 19 is an external view showing a watch. FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the process of driving a pinion into the ball of the hairspring of the comparative example and filling it with an adhesive.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this specification, when there is a numerical range represented by using "to", the numerical range means a range including the numerical values described before and after "to" as lower and upper limits.

[First embodiment]
A hairspring 10 as a timepiece component according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7 and 19. FIG.

First, a timepiece incorporating the hairspring 10 of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 19, the complete watch 100 contains a movement 106, a dial 108 having a scale indicating information about time, and a watch case 104 consisting of a case back (not shown) and a glass 102. hour hand 110 indicating minute, minute hand 112 indicating minute, and second hand 114 indicating second. The dial 108 is provided with a date window 108A for clearly indicating the date D.

Watch 100 is a mechanical watch. The movement 106 has a balance (not shown) in which the balance spring 10 (see FIG. 1) is arranged. Further, the movement 106 includes other timepiece parts such as an anchor (not shown), an escape wheel 130 (see FIG. 12), and the like.

As shown in FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B), the hairspring 10 is a thin leaf spring having a spiral hairspring main body 12 having a plurality of windings and an outer peripheral end of the hairspring main body 12. and a mustache holder 16 arranged in the part. Furthermore, the hairspring 10 has a hairball 18 arranged in the center of the hairspring main body 12 . The main body part 12 of the hairspring, the hairpiece holder 16 and the hairball 18 are integrally formed. The balance spring 10 is arranged such that radially adjacent balance spring body portions 12 are spaced substantially equally apart when viewed from the axial direction.

The mustache holder 16 is an annular member having a substantially oval shape, and a substantially oval through hole 16A is formed in the central portion thereof. A balance bridge is connected to the balance holder 16 via a balance holder (not shown).

The beard ball 18 is an annular member, and has a substantially circular through hole 18A formed in the center thereof. A portion of the beard ball 18 in the circumferential direction is divided by an opening 19 . A pinion 54 (see FIG. 4(B)), which will be described later, is driven into the mustache ball 18 .

2A and 2B are a perspective view and a cross-sectional view of a part of the hairspring main body 12, respectively. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the main body 12 of the hairspring consists of a silicon material 22 made of a silicon material and a surface (upper surface in FIG. 2) on one side in the thickness direction of the silicon material 22. a first metal film 24 formed on the first metal film 24; a second metal film 26 formed on the first metal film 24; and an outer metal layer 28 formed on the second metal film 26. . The balance spring main body 12 includes a first metal film 24, a second metal film 26, and an outer metal layer 28 which are sequentially formed on the back surface (lower surface in FIG. 2) of the silicon material 22 on the other side in the thickness direction. , is equipped with A metal laminate 30 is formed by the first metal film 24 , the second metal film 26 and the outer metal layer 28 . Here, the metal laminate 30 is an example of a metal layer.

The hairspring main body 12 has eaves 32 on both sides of the silicon material 22 in a direction orthogonal to the thickness direction, in which the metal laminate 30 protrudes from the side surface 22A of the silicon material 22 . In the first embodiment, the eaves 32 are provided on both sides (front and back) of the silicon material 22 . A canopy portion 34 is also provided on the back surface of the silicon material 22 (see FIG. 3(G)).

The silicon material 22 is formed by processing a silicon wafer 40 (see FIG. 3) as a silicon substrate by RIE (reactive ion etching) or the like. The thickness of the silicon material 22 is, for example, 50 to 200 μm. In the first embodiment, the thickness of silicon material 22 is approximately 100 μm.

As the material of the first metal film 24, for example, chromium (Cr), tantalum (Ta), titanium (Ti), or the like is used. In the first embodiment, chromium is used as the first metal film 24 . The thickness of the first metal film 24 is, for example, 10 to 500 nm. In the first embodiment, the thickness of the first metal film 24 is approximately 50 nm.

As the material of the second metal film 26, for example, copper (Cu), gold (Au), palladium (Pd), or the like is used. In the first embodiment, copper is used as the second metal film 26 . The thickness of the second metal film 26 is, for example, 10 to 500 nm. In the first embodiment, the thickness of the second metal film 26 is approximately 100 nm.

As a material for the outer metal layer 28, for example, palladium (Pd), nickel (Ni), palladium-nickel alloy, or the like is used. In the first embodiment, the thickness of the outer metal layer 28 is preferably 1.1 μm in consideration of improving the characteristics of the hairspring 10 and bringing the temperature characteristics closer to zero. As will be described later, this is because the temperature coefficient of Young's modulus of silicon is a negative value, which is about −60×10 ⁻⁶ (1/K), whereas the palladium 52%-nickel 48% alloy has a positive value. , which is about 2800×10 ⁻⁶ (1/K). From these values, when considering the balance spring 10 as a parallel spring and considering that the Young's modulus and the temperature coefficient are determined by the ratio of the respective thicknesses, in order to make the temperature coefficient zero, silicon and palladium 52%-nickel This value was used because the thickness ratio of the 48% alloy was 100:2.2 (both sides total).

When the silicon material 22 is formed by processing a silicon wafer 40 (see FIG. 3) by RIE (reactive ion etching) or the like, the side surface 22A of the silicon material 22 may have a defect 23 such as a notch or a vertical streak. (see Figure 2). In the hairspring 10, the metal laminate 30 is provided with the overhanging portion 32 projecting from the side surface 22A of the silicon material 22, thereby suppressing the concentration of force on the defect 23 of the side surface 22A of the silicon material 22. .

The protrusion amount of the eaves 32 from the side surface 22A of the silicon material 22 is preferably 0.5 to 20 μm, more preferably 1 to 10 μm. If the overhanging amount of the eaves portion 32 is less than 0.5 μm, the effect of suppressing the concentration of force on the defect 23 such as the notch formed in the side surface 22A of the silicon material 22 is reduced. Further, if the overhanging amount of the eaves portion 32 is more than 10 μm, the eaves portion 32 may affect the spring performance of the hairspring 10 when the hairspring 10 is operated.

Next, a method for manufacturing the hairspring 10 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3A, a first metal film made of a chromium film is formed on the front surface (upper surface in FIG. 3) and the rear surface (lower surface in FIG. 3) of a silicon wafer 40 in order from the silicon wafer 40 side. 24 and a second metal film 26 made of a copper film are formed by sputtering, for example. Note that the first metal film 24 and the second metal film 26 may be formed by a vapor deposition method or the like. As a result, conductive layers composed of the first metal film 24 and the second metal film 26 are formed on both surfaces of the silicon wafer 40 .

Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, a positive resist layer is formed by applying a positive resist material onto the second metal film 26 on both surfaces (front and back) of the silicon wafer 40 by spin coating or the like. 42 is formed with a predetermined thickness (for example, 1 μm). A negative resist material may be used instead of the positive resist material.

Then, the positive resist layers 42 on both sides of the silicon wafer 40 are exposed using a photomask on which a predetermined pattern is drawn, and developed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3(C), a pattern 42A having an opening in the portion of the balance spring 10 (see FIG. 1) having a predetermined shape and size is formed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3D, both surfaces of the silicon wafer 40 are plated with palladium using the positive resist layer 42 with the pattern 42A formed thereon as a mask. An outer metal layer 28 is formed on the second metal film 26 on the back surface). As a result, the outer metal layers 28 functioning as metal mask layers are formed on both surface sides of the silicon wafer 40 . After that, as shown in FIG. 3E, the positive resist layer 42 with the pattern 42A formed thereon is removed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3F, the conductive layer composed of the second metal film 26 and the first metal film 24 exposed on both surfaces of the silicon wafer 40 between the outer metal layers 28 is removed by etching. As etching, for example, wet etching or the like is used. When titanium or tantalum is used as the first metal film 24, dry etching or the like may be used. As a result, a metal laminate 30 having a predetermined pattern, which is composed of the first metal film 24, the second metal film 26, and the outer metal layer 28, is formed on both surfaces of the silicon wafer 40. Next, as shown in FIG. In the hair ball 18 (see FIG. 1) of the hairspring 10, the patterns of the metal laminates 30 on the front and back surfaces of the silicon wafer 40 are different. In the first embodiment, the opening 46 between adjacent metal laminates 30 on the back surface of the silicon wafer 40 is smaller than the opening 48 between adjacent metal laminates 30 on the front surface of the silicon wafer 40 .

Further, as shown in FIG. 3G, using the metal laminate 30 as a mask, the silicon wafer 40 is etched by RIE (reactive ion etching) from the front surface (upper surface in FIG. 3) of the silicon wafer 40. conduct. As a result, the silicon wafer 40 between the metal laminates 30 is etched to form the silicon material 22 with a predetermined pattern. At this time, the silicon wafer 40 below the end portions in the plane direction of the metal laminate 30 is etched to form eaves 32 and 34 in which the metal laminate 30 protrudes from the side surface 22A of the silicon material 22 .

If the eaves 32 and 34 do not protrude from the side surface 22A of the silicon material 22, the silicon wafer 40 is wet-etched with a hydrofluoric acid-based or alkaline-based etchant. A wet etch is an isotropic etch. As a result, the silicon wafer 40 below the end portion in the plane direction of the metal laminate 30 is further etched, and the overhanging amount of the eaves portion 32 from the side surface 22A of the silicon material 22 is increased. The hairspring 10 having the silicon material 22 sandwiched between the metal laminates 30 is manufactured by the above-described steps.

Next, the process of driving the pinion into the hair ball 18 of the hair spring 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7. FIG. 4 and 5, the illustration of the first metal film 24, the second metal film 26, and the outer metal layer 28, which are the layers constituting the metal laminate 30, is omitted in order to make the configuration easier to understand.

As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the hairspring main body 12 of the hairspring 10 has eaves 32 and 34 on both sides of the silicon material 22 . Further, the hairspring ball 18 of the hairspring 10 is provided with a canopy portion 32 on the surface (upper surface in FIG. 4) of the silicon material 22, and overhang portions 32, 34 are provided on the back surface (lower surface in FIG. 4) of the silicon material 22. It has At that time, in the through hole 18A of the beard ball 18, the surface of the silicon material 22 is provided with a canopy portion 32 projecting toward the through hole 18A side, and the rear surface of the silicon material 22 projects toward the through hole 18A side. A canopy portion 34 is provided. The amount of projection of the eaves portion 34 from the side surface 22A of the silicon material 22 is larger than the amount of projection of the eaves portion 34 from the side surface 22A of the silicon material 22 . In other words, in the bead 18 , the opening 46 between the adjacent eaves 34 on the back surface of the silicon material 22 is smaller than the opening 48 between the adjacent eaves 32 on the front surface of the silicon material 22 .

As shown in FIG. 4B, the pinion 54 as an example of the driving member includes a shaft 54A, a gear 54B provided at one end of the shaft 54A in the axial direction, and an intermediate portion of the shaft 54A in the axial direction. and a mounting portion 54C provided adjacent to the gear 54B. Here, the attachment portion 54C is an example of a shaft portion. The mounting portion 54C has a substantially cylindrical shape and is joined to the outer peripheral surface of the shaft 54A. The outer diameter of the mounting portion 54C is smaller than the outer diameter of the gear 54B.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 4B and 6B, the outer diameter of the mounting portion 54C is smaller than the inner diameter of the through hole 18A of the beard ball 18. As shown in FIG. Furthermore, the outer diameter of the mounting portion 54C is larger than the inner diameter of the opening 46 between the opposing eaves 34 on the back surface of the silicon material 22 . A plurality of (three in the first embodiment) notch portions 35 are formed in a part of the eaves portion 34 in the circumferential direction so that the eaves portion 34 is easily plastically deformed in a direction intersecting the surface direction. (See FIG. 6(B)). The notch portions 35 are provided at approximately equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the eaves portion 34 . If the eaves portion 34 is stiff, the number of notch portions 35 may be increased to facilitate plastic deformation of the eaves portion 34 .

In addition, as shown in FIG. 6A, the outer diameter of the mounting portion 54C is smaller than the inner diameter of the opening 48 between the facing eaves 32 on the surface of the silicon material 22 . A protruding portion 33 is formed on a part of the eaves portion 32 in the circumferential direction and protrudes from the eaves portion 32 radially inwardly of the through hole 18A. The inner diameter of the imaginary circle contacting the projecting portion 33 is smaller than the outer diameter of the mounting portion 54C.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the mounting portion 54C of the pinion 54 is driven into the through hole 18A of the beard ball 18 from the opening 46 (lower side in FIG. 4) between the eaves 34 of the beard ball 18. . As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the eaves portion 34 from which the metal laminate 30 protrudes is plastically deformed to enter the through hole 18A of the beard ball 18 (the side surface 22A of the silicon material 22), and the beard ball 18 A deformed portion 58 is formed to close the gap between the wall surface of the through hole 18A and the mounting portion 54C. The attachment portion 54C of the pinion 54 is held (fitted) in the through hole 18A of the beard ball 18 by the deformation portion 58 .

When the outer metal layer 28 (see FIGS. 2A and 2B) of the metal laminate 30 is manufactured by plating, the hardness (for example, Vickers hardness) of the outer metal layer 28 is higher than that of ordinary metal. Become. Therefore, if the eaves portion 34 overhanging the metal laminate 30 is hard, the eaves portion 34 is locally heated with a laser or the like to recrystallize or coarsen the crystals, thereby softening the eaves portion 34. good too. As a result, the push-in resistance of the attachment portion 54C of the pinion 54 during fitting can be reduced.

Also, although illustration is omitted, when the mounting portion 54C of the pinion 54 is driven into the through hole 18A of the beard ball 18, the protruding portion 33 is bent in the opposite direction to the through hole 18A of the beard ball 18 due to plastic deformation. Therefore, the shaft 54A of the pinion 54 is stably held at the center of the through hole 18A of the beard ball 18 by the eaves 34 and the projecting portion 33, and the shaft of the pinion 54 with respect to the through hole 18A of the beard ball 18 is stably held. Positioning (positioning) of 54A is facilitated.

In the first embodiment, the projecting portion 33 shown in FIG. 6A is provided, but a configuration in which the projecting portion 33 is not provided is also possible.

FIG. 7 shows a pinion 60 as another example of the driving member. As shown in FIG. 7, the pinion 60 includes a shaft 54A, a gear 54B, and a mounting portion 60A. The mounting portion 60A has a tapered surface 60B whose outer diameter gradually decreases toward the side opposite to the gear 54B. Although not shown, the attachment portion 60A of the pinion 60 may be driven into the through hole 18A of the beard ball 18. As shown in FIG. Since the mounting portion 60A of the pinion 60 is tapered and can be easily inserted into the through hole 18A of the pinion 18, the silicon material 22 constituting the pinion 18 is less likely to crack when the mounting portion 60A of the pinion 60 is inserted.

Next, the operation and effects of the first embodiment will be described.

In the hairspring 10, the metal laminates 30 are provided on both sides of the silicon material 22 in the thickness direction. On both sides of the silicon material 22 in the thickness direction, eaves 32 and 34 are formed in which the metal laminate 30 protrudes from the side surface 22A of the silicon material 22 .

When the silicon material 22 is formed by processing a silicon wafer 40 (see FIG. 3) by RIE (reactive ion etching) or the like, defects 23 such as notches or vertical streaks are generated on the side surface 22A of the silicon material 22. (See FIGS. 2A and 2B).

In general, silicon wafers are inherently fragile and cleaved, and therefore have low strength and large variations in strength in the direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the silicon wafer (the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2). . Therefore, a defect such as a notch or a vertical streak may serve as a starting position (originating source) to cause cracking or cleavage of the silicon wafer.

In the hairspring 10 of the first embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B and 3G, a metal laminate 30 is formed on both sides of a silicon material 22, and the metal laminate 30 is made of silicon material. 22 are formed with eaves 32 and 34 projecting from the side surface 22A. The metal laminate 30 and eaves 32 , 34 are ductile and malleable relative to the silicon material 22 . As a result, the silicon material 22 is reinforced and protected by the metal laminate 30 and the eaves 32, 34, so that direct application of force to the defects 23 such as notches or vertical streaks is suppressed, and the defects 23 of the silicon material 22 are suppressed. is suppressed. Therefore, the breaking strength of the hairspring 10 is increased. Therefore, the strength of the hairspring 10 can be increased at low cost.

In addition, in the hairspring 10, the silicon material 22 forming the through hole 18A of the hair ball 18 is provided with eaves 32 and 34 in which the metal laminate 30 protrudes toward the through hole 18A. Then, in a state in which the attachment portion 54C of the pinion 54 is driven into the through hole 18A of the silicon material 22, the attachment portion 54C penetrates the silicon material 22 by the deformed portion 58 in which the eaves portion 34 is plastically deformed toward the through hole 18A. It is held in the hole 18A (see FIG. 5). Therefore, the attachment portion 54C of the pinion 54 can be easily positioned in the through hole 18A of the silicon member 22, and the attachment portion 54C of the pinion 54 can be easily fixed to the through hole 18A of the silicon member 22, thereby improving productivity. improves.

Also, since the eaves 32 and 34 are formed on both sides of the silicon member 22 so that the metal laminate 30 protrudes from the side surface 22A of the silicon member 22, the mounting portion 54C of the pinion 54 is driven into the through hole 18A of the beard ball 18. Occasionally, silicon material 22 can be inhibited from breaking starting at defects 23, such as notches or streaks.

In the hairspring 10, the silicon material 22 has a negative temperature coefficient of Young's modulus of approximately -60×10 ^-6 (1/K) between 0 and 100°C. In addition, the outer metal layer 28 of the metal laminate 30 of this embodiment is made of a palladium 52%-nickel 48% alloy, and the temperature coefficient of Young's modulus is approximately 2800×10 ⁻⁶ (1/K) and has a positive coefficient. Thus, by providing the outer metal layers 28 made of a palladium-nickel alloy on the upper and lower sides of the silicon material 22, the negative and positive temperature coefficients can be offset to bring the temperature coefficient closer to zero. According to this embodiment, the accuracy of the balance spring 10 with respect to temperature changes is improved. Further, by using palladium for the outer metal layer 28, the corrosion resistance of the hairspring 10 is improved.

Further, in the method of manufacturing the hairspring 10, the metal laminates 30 having a predetermined pattern are formed on both surfaces of the silicon wafer 40. As shown in FIG. Then, the silicon wafer 40 is processed by RIE (reactive ion etching) to form eaves 32 and 34 projecting from the side surface 22A of the silicon member 22 from the metal laminate 30 . Therefore, the strength of the hairspring 10 can be increased at low cost.

Furthermore, if the protruding amount of the eaves 32 and 34 is insufficient, the eaves 32 and 34 can be further protruded from the side surface 22A of the silicon material 22 by performing wet plating after reactive ion etching. can. As a result, direct application of force to the defect 23 such as the notch or the vertical stripe by the eaves 32 and 34 is more reliably suppressed, and the breaking strength of the hairspring 10 is further increased.

(supplement)
Temperature coefficient when the balance spring is added to the balance spring (1) Basic idea and the temperature coefficient β of the Young's modulus of the balance spring. If T is the period of the balance and .DELTA.T is the period variation due to temperature, .DELTA.T/T, which is the accuracy, is proportional to the temperature change, and its proportionality coefficient k is given by the following equation (1).

したがって、比例係数ｋの値をゼロに近づけることが時計としての精度を向上することにつながる。

Therefore, bringing the value of the proportionality coefficient k close to zero leads to improving the accuracy of the timepiece.

Brass is generally used as the material for the balance wheel because of its workability, but the material used for watches has a linear thermal expansion coefficient of α2=21×10 ⁻⁶ (1/K). On the other hand, the coefficient of linear thermal expansion of silicon is α1=3.9×10 ⁻⁶ (1/K) although it depends on the crystal orientation. As described above, the temperature coefficient β of Young's modulus of silicon is β=−60×10 ⁻⁶ (1/K). Therefore, if the balance is made of a balance wheel made of brass and a balance spring made of silicon, the proportionality coefficient k becomes a very large value of k=45.15×10 ⁻⁶ .

For this reason, when silicon is used as a hairspring, the temperature coefficient of Young's modulus is a positive value in order to bring the proportionality coefficient k close to ^zero . may be formed on the surface of silicon by a thermal oxidation method or the like to a thickness corresponding to its dimensions (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-507454). In addition, if the proportionality coefficient k cannot be brought close to zero with only the silicon oxide film, it is conceivable to form the balance with a material having a small linear thermal expansion coefficient, but in many cases, processing is difficult and costly. are causing problems.

In contrast, in the present embodiment, a layer of 52% palladium-48% nickel alloy is formed on both flat and parallel surfaces of the silicon balance spring 10 to bring the proportionality coefficient k closer to zero.

Specifically, a brass material (α2=21×10 ⁻⁶ (1/K)) having good workability is selected as the material of the balance wheel, and the thickness of the silicon material 22 in the hairspring 10 is set to 150 μm. In this case, by setting the thickness of the outer metal layer 28 to 2.4 μm on both the front and back surfaces of the silicon material 22, the proportionality coefficient k can be made substantially zero.

In this embodiment, a palladium 52%-nickel 48% alloy is used as the outer metal layer 28, but the temperature coefficient β of Young's modulus can be changed to a positive value, specifically 0 to 2800, by changing the composition of palladium and nickel. It can be in the range of ×10 ⁻⁶ (1/K). As described above, when the balance spring 10 of the present embodiment is used to form the balance, the required strength and desired temperature characteristics can be obtained by adjusting the composition, thickness, and overhang amount of the outer metal layer 28. can be obtained.

Materials other than palladium-nickel alloys include platinum (Pt) alloys, palladium-gold alloys, niobium (Nb) alloys, and the like. The composition and thickness of the outer metal layer 28 are determined by the shape and dimensions of the silicon material 22 of interest. As a method for forming the outer metal layer 28, a vapor deposition method such as vacuum deposition, sputtering, a wet plating method, or the like can be employed.

(2) Specific simulation Consider the thickness of the silicon and metal layers for the proportional coefficient k. The linear thermal expansion coefficient of silicon is α1, the temperature coefficient is β1, the thickness is x, the linear thermal expansion coefficient of the metal layer is α3, the temperature coefficient is β3, the thickness of one side is y, and the linear thermal expansion coefficient of the balance is α2. In this case, if layers of thickness y are formed on both sides of the silicon, the proportionality coefficient k can be approximated by the following equation (2).

したがって、比例係数ｋをゼロとして、ｙについて解くと次式（３）のとおりとなる。

Therefore, if the proportional coefficient k is set to zero and y is solved, the following equation (3) is obtained.

ここで、テンワ及び金属層の材質を変えた場合の金属層の厚さｙを求めると表１のとおりとなる。

Table 1 shows the thickness y of the metal layer when the materials of the balance wheel and the metal layer are changed.

Case 1 is an example in which the material of the balance wheel is brass and the material of the metal layer is a palladium 52%-nickel 48% alloy. Case 2 is an example in which the material of the balance wheel is titanium and the material of the metal layer is a palladium 52%-nickel 48% alloy. The case 3 is an example in which the material of the balance wheel is brass and the material of the metal layer is a palladium 50%-nickel 50% alloy.

As described above, the thickness of the outer metal layer 28 formed on the silicon material 22 can be adjusted by changing the materials of the balance wheel and the metal layer. As the thickness of the silicon material 22 in the hairspring 10 becomes thinner, the strength decreases. strength can be ensured.

[Second embodiment]
Next, a hairspring as a timepiece component according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10. FIG. In addition, in the second embodiment, the same components, members, etc. as in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 8, in the hairspring 70, metal laminates 72 are provided on both sides of the silicon material 22 in the thickness direction. On both sides of the silicon material 22 in the thickness direction, eaves 74 and 76 are formed in which the metal laminate 72 protrudes from the side surface 22A of the silicon material 22 . The thickness of the metal laminate 72 is thinner than the thickness of the metal laminate 30 of the first embodiment. At this time, the thickness of the metal laminate 72 is set to such an extent that the silicon material 22 does not crack even when the shaft 80A of the pinion 80 as the driving member is pushed. Further, in the beard ball 18, the amount of projection of the eaves portion 76 from the side surface 22A of the silicon member 22 is larger than the amount of projection of the eaves portion 74. - 特許庁

The pinion 80 includes a shaft 80A as a shaft portion and a gear 54B joined to the shaft 80A. The pinion 80 is not provided with a mounting portion 54C (see FIG. 4) like the pinion 54 of the first embodiment. Although illustration is omitted, the dimensional relationship between the outer diameter of the shaft 80A of the pinion 80 and the eaves 74, 76, etc. is determined by the mounting portion 54C of the pinion 54 and the eaves 32, 34 shown in FIGS. It is the same as the dimensional relationship with

As shown in FIG. 8, the shaft 80A of the pinion 80 is driven into the through hole 18A of the beard ball 18 from the opening 46 (lower side in FIG. 9) between the eaves 76 of the beard ball 18. As shown in FIG. As a result, as shown in FIG. 9, the overhanging portion 76 of the metal laminate 72 is plastically deformed to enter the through hole 18A of the beard ball 18 (on the side surface 22A of the silicon material 22), and the deformed portion 78 is deformed. It is formed. The deformation portion 78 is bent upward from the metal laminate 72 .

When the deformation portion 78 is small and the fitting state between the shaft 80A of the pinion 80 and the through hole 18A of the beard ball 18 is weak, as shown in FIG. The gap between the shaft 80A and the through hole 18A of the mustache ball 18 is filled with an adhesive 84 and hardened. Even if the fitting state is weak, the deformed portion 78 due to the deformation of the eaves portion 76 and the protrusion portion 33 (Fig. 6A) cause the axial center of the shaft 80A to be positioned (positioned) with respect to the through hole 18A of the mustache ball 18. (See FIGS. 6A and 6B.) Therefore, the axial center of the shaft 80A is aligned with the center of the through hole 18A. Along with the axial direction of the through hole 18A, the axis of the shaft 80A is arranged vertically.

At this time, in order to make it easier to fill the adhesive 84 from between the shaft 80A of the pinion 80 and the eaves 74 on the upper side of the beard 18, the size of the projecting portion 33 (see FIG. 6A) should be reduced. is preferred. In order to prevent the adhesive 84 from flowing out from the eaves 76 on the lower side of the beard ball 18, it is preferable to reduce the width of the notch 35 (see FIG. 6B).

In the hairspring 70 described above, with the shaft 80A of the pinion 80 driven into the through hole 18A of the hair ball 18, the eaves 76 is plastically deformed toward the side surface 22A of the silicon member 22, and the shaft 80A is deformed. The shaft 80A is held in the through hole 18A of the beard ball 18 by an adhesive 84 filled between the silicon material 22 and the bead 18. As shown in FIG. Therefore, the shaft 80A of the pinion 80 can be easily fixed to the through hole 18A of the beard ball 18, improving productivity.

Also, the adhesive 84 is filled between the shaft 80A and the silicon material 22 from the opposite side of the deformed portion 78 in the axial direction of the shaft 80A. As a result, when the adhesive 84 is filled, the flow of the adhesive 84 can be suppressed by the deformed portion 78 , and the adhesive 84 is suppressed from squeezing out to unnecessary portions of the pinion 80 .

FIG. 20 shows part of a hairspring 300 according to a comparative example. As shown in FIG. 20, the hairspring main body 12 and the hairball 18 of the hairspring 300 are made of silicon material 302 . No metal layer is formed on both surfaces of the silicon material 302 .

In the hairspring 300, when the shaft 80A of the pinion 80 is driven into the through hole 18A of the hair ball 18, the silicon material 302 is likely to crack, causing the shaft 80A to wobble with respect to the through hole 18A of the hair ball 18, causing the hair ball 18 to move vertically. The axis 80A may be oblique to the direction. For this reason, when the adhesive 84 is filled between the through hole 18A of the beard ball 18 and the shaft 80A of the pinion 80, the adhesive 84 tends to protrude from the lower part of the beard ball 18. - 特許庁

On the other hand, in the second embodiment, since the adhesive 84 is filled between the shaft 80A and the silicon material 22 from the opposite side of the deformed portion 78 in the axial direction of the shaft 80A, the deformed portion 78 causes the adhesive 84 to spread. Outflow can be suppressed.

[Modifications of the first and second embodiments]
A first example of the shape of the eaves portion shown in FIG. 11A and a second example of the shape of the eaves portion shown in FIG. 11B can be applied to the first embodiment and the second embodiment, respectively. can.

FIG. 11A shows a first example of the shape of the eaves 32 when plating (electrolytic plating or electroless plating) is first applied to RIE (reactive ion etching). As shown in FIG. 11A, when the outer metal layer 92 is plated (electrolytic plating or electroless plating) at the beginning of RIE (reactive ion etching), the first metal film 24 and the second metal film 24 are formed. A metal laminate 94 composed of the metal film 26 and the outer metal layer 92 forms the overhanging portion 32 projecting from the side surface 90A of the silicon material 90 . The eaves portion 32 is shaped so that the outer metal layer 92 does not wrap around the side surface 90A of the silicon material 90 . In such a form of the eaves portion 32 , the silicon material 90 may be wet-etched after RIE (reactive ion etching) so that the eaves portion 32 extends from the side surface 90 A of the silicon material 90 . As the etching liquid, for example, hydrofluoric acid, an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide with a concentration of about 30%, or the like is used. As a result, the side surface 90A of the silicon material 90 below the eaves portion 32 is etched, and the metal laminate 94 can be further projected from the side surface 90A of the silicon material 90 .

FIG. 11B shows a second example of the shape of the eaves 32 when plating (electrolytic plating or electroless plating) is applied after RIE (reactive ion etching). As shown in FIG. 11(B), when the outer metal layer 96 is plated (electrolytic plating or electroless plating) after RIE (reactive ion etching), the outer metal layer 96 becomes the silicon material 90. It wraps around to the side of the side surface 90B. As a result, a metal laminate 98 composed of the first metal film 24, the second metal film 26, and the outer metal layer 96 is formed on the surface of the silicon material 90, and the thickness direction surface (upper surface) of the silicon material 90 is formed. ) to a portion of the side surface 90A of the silicon member 90, the eaves portion 32 is formed in which the outer metal layer 96 protrudes from the side surface 90B of the silicon member 90. As shown in FIG. The outer surface of the eaves portion 32 has a curved shape so as to cover a portion of the side surface 90A of the silicon material 90 from the upper surface of the silicon material 90 . In such a form of the eaves portion 32, it is not necessary to wet-etch the silicon material 90 after RIE (reactive ion etching).

[Third embodiment]
Next, an escape wheel as a timepiece component of the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 to 14. FIG. In addition, in 3rd Embodiment, the same code|symbol is attached|subjected about the same component, member, etc. as 1st and 2nd Embodiment, and detailed description is abbreviate|omitted.

As shown in FIG. 12, the escape wheel & pinion 130 includes an annular rim portion 132, a hub portion 134 arranged inside the rim portion 132, and a plurality of (third) connecting the rim portion 132 and the hub portion 134. In the embodiment, four spokes 136 are provided. A plurality of spoke portions 136 radially extend from the outer peripheral edge of hub portion 134 toward the inner peripheral edge of rim portion 132 . A tooth portion 138 is formed on the peripheral portion of the rim portion 132 . The tooth portions 138 protrude radially outward of the escape wheel & pinion 130 and are arranged in plurality along the circumferential direction of the escape wheel & pinion 130 at predetermined intervals. The hub portion 134 is formed in a substantially circular shape, and a through hole 135 is formed in the central portion of the hub portion 134 . A shaft portion (not shown) as a driving member is driven into the through hole 135 of the hub portion 134 .

As shown in FIG. 13, the tooth portion 138 of the escape wheel & pinion 130 includes a silicon material 142 and metal laminates 144 as metal layers formed on both sides (front and back) of the silicon material 142 in the thickness direction. I have. Further, the toothed portion 138 of the escape wheel 130 has eaves 146 on both sides of the silicon material 142 in the direction orthogonal to the thickness direction, in which the metal laminate 144 protrudes from the side surface 142A of the silicon material 142 . In the third embodiment, eaves 146 are provided on both sides (front and back) of silicon material 142 .

The tip surface of the silicon material 142 forming the tooth portion 138 serves as a sliding surface 150 on which a pawl stone 190 (see FIG. 17) of the ankle slides. In order to facilitate sliding between the sliding surface 150 of the silicon material 142 and the pawl 190, recesses 152 formed by recessing the metal laminate 144 are provided on both sides of the sliding surface 150 of the silicon material 142 in the thickness direction. ing. That is, above and below the sliding surface 150 of the silicon material 142 , the metal laminate 144 does not protrude from the sliding surface 150 , and the metal laminate 144 is recessed from the sliding surface 150 by the concave portion 152 . In other words, in the escape wheel & pinion 130 , the metal laminates 144 provided on both sides of the silicon material 142 are partially provided with eaves 146 in which the metal laminates 144 protrude from the side surfaces 142 A of the silicon material 142 .

Although illustration is omitted, portions other than the toothed portion 138 of the escape wheel & pinion 130 also include a silicon material 142, metal laminates 144 formed on both surfaces (front and back surfaces) of the silicon material 142, and metal laminates. 144 is provided with a canopy portion 146 projecting from the side surface 142A of the silicon material 142 .

Next, a method for manufacturing the escape wheel & pinion 130 will be described. It should be noted that FIG. 14 is a schematic cross-sectional view in which the dimensional relationship is different from the actual one in order to facilitate understanding of the manufacturing method of the escape wheel & pinion 130 .

As shown in FIG. 14A, on both surfaces of a silicon wafer 40, a first metal film 24 made of a chromium film and a second metal film 26 made of a copper film are formed in this order from the silicon wafer 40 side, for example by sputtering. It is formed by a method or vapor deposition method.

Next, as shown in FIG. 14B, the second metal film 26 on both sides of the silicon wafer 40 is coated with, for example, a positive resist material, thereby forming the positive resist layer 42 to a predetermined thickness (for example, , 1 μm). Then, the positive resist layers 42 on both sides of the silicon wafer 40 are exposed using a photomask on which a predetermined pattern is drawn, and developed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 14(C), a pattern 42B having an opening other than the escape wheel & pinion 130 (see FIG. 12) having a predetermined shape and size is formed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 14D, using the pattern 42B of the positive resist layer 42 as a mask, the second metal film 26 and the first metal film 24 are etched in this order.

Then, as shown in FIG. 14E, the positive resist layer 42 is removed. Thereby, a pattern 27 of the second metal film 26 and the first metal film 24 having the shape and dimensions of the escape wheel 130 (see FIG. 12) is formed.

Next, the silicon wafer 40 on which the pattern 27 of the second metal film 26 and the first metal film 24 is formed is immersed in a palladium (Pd) catalyst solution, washed with water, and then immersed in an electroless nickel plating solution. As a result, as shown in FIG. 14F, an outer metal layer 28 made of, for example, a nickel-plated layer having a thickness of about 10 μm is formed on the second metal film 26 . As a result, a metal laminate 144 composed of the first metal film 24, the second metal film 26, and the outer metal layer 28 having the shape and dimensions of the escape wheel 130 (see FIG. 12) is formed on both surfaces of the silicon wafer 40. be done.

Further, as shown in FIG. 14G, using the metal laminate 144 as a mask, the silicon wafer 40 is etched from the front surface (upper surface in FIG. 14) of the silicon wafer 40 by RIE (reactive ion etching). conduct. As a result, the silicon wafer 40 between the metal laminates 144 is etched to form the silicon material 142 in a predetermined pattern. At this time, the silicon wafer 40 below the planar end of the metal laminate 144 is etched to form eaves 146 in which the metal laminate 144 protrudes from the side surface 142A of the silicon member 142 . Escape wheel & pinion 130 is manufactured through the steps described above.

In the escape wheel & pinion 130 described above, the metal laminates 144 are formed on both surfaces of the silicon material 142, and the metal laminates 144 are formed with eaves 146 projecting from the side surfaces 142A of the silicon material 142. As shown in FIG. As a result, since the silicon material 142 is reinforced and protected by the metal laminate 144 and the overhanging portion 146, direct application of force to defects such as notches or vertical streaks is suppressed, and breakage due to defects in the silicon material 142 is suppressed. be done. Therefore, the breaking strength of the escape wheel & pinion 130 is increased. Therefore, the strength of the escape wheel & pinion 130 can be increased at low cost.

In addition, description is abbreviate|omitted about the other effect by the same structure as 1st Embodiment.

[Fourth embodiment]
Next, an escape wheel and pinion as a timepiece component according to the fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the fourth embodiment, the same components, members, etc. as in the first to third embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 15, the tooth portion 162 of the escape wheel & pinion 160 includes a silicon material 142, a metal laminate 144 formed on both surfaces (front and back) of the silicon material 142, and a metal laminate 144 formed on the silicon material 142. and a canopy portion 146 projecting from the side surface 142A of the housing. At the tip portion of the tooth portion 162, on both sides in the thickness direction of the tip surface 142B as the side surface of the silicon material 142, eaves portions 146 are provided in which the metal laminate 144 protrudes from the tip surface 142B.

With the escape wheel & pinion 160 described above, the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained by the same configuration as in the first embodiment.

Also, in the escape wheel 160, the eaves portion 146 projecting from the tip surface 142B of the silicon material 142 contacts the pawl stone 190 (see FIG. 17) of the ankle, so the contact area between the eaves portion 146 and the pawl stone 190 is reduced. , the coefficient of friction decreases. Therefore, the eaves portion 178 and the pawl 190 can be slid relatively smoothly.

[Fifth embodiment]
Next, an escape wheel and pinion as a timepiece component of the fifth embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 16 to 18. FIG. In the fifth embodiment, the same components, members, etc. as in the first to fourth embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 16, the tooth portion 172 of the escape wheel & pinion 170 includes a silicon material 142, a metal laminate 174 formed on both surfaces (front and back) of the silicon material 142, and a metal laminate 174 formed on the silicon material 142. and a canopy portion 176 projecting from the side surface 142A. At the tip portion of the tooth portion 172, on both sides in the thickness direction of the tip surface 142B of the silicon member 142, eaves portions 178 are provided in which the metal laminate 144 protrudes from the tip surface 142B.

The eaves portion 176 is formed by forming an outer metal layer (not shown) that constitutes the metal laminate 174 by an electroless plating method, so that the outer metal layer wraps around so as to partially cover the side surface 142A of the silicon material 142. It is considered to be a shape. In other words, the eaves portion 176 covers a portion of the side surface 142A of the silicon material 142 from the surface in the thickness direction of the silicon material 142, and the outer surface of the eaves portion 176 is curved. The eaves portion 176 is formed by electroless nickel-boron plating, for example. The hardness (Vickers hardness) Hv of the eaves portion 176 is 700, for example. Here, Vickers hardness is a kind of indentation hardness, and the indentation (indentation) formed when a rigid body (indenter) made of square pyramidal diamond with an apex angle of 136 degrees is pushed into the test object. Expressed as a value obtained by dividing the load by the surface area. Vickers hardness was measured according to JIS G 0562, for example.

As shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, at the tip of the tooth portion 172, on both sides in the thickness direction of the tip face 142B of the silicon material 142, eaves 178 are provided in which the metal laminate 144 protrudes from the tip face 142B. ing. The eaves portion 178 covers a portion of the front end surface 142B of the silicon material 142 from the surface of the silicon material 142 in the thickness direction, and the outer surface of the eaves portion 178 is curved. The eaves portion 178 is formed, for example, by locally heating an eaves portion formed by electroless nickel-boron plating with a laser. The eaves portion 178 becomes harder than the eaves portion 176 by locally heating it with a laser. The hardness (Vickers hardness) Hv of the canopy portion 178 is, for example, 1100-1200.

As shown in FIG. 17, at the tip of tooth 172, eaves 178 on both sides of tip surface 142B of silicon material 142 are in contact with sliding surface 190A of pawl stone 190 of the ankle. In this state, eaves 178 on both sides in the thickness direction of silicon material 142 and sliding surfaces 190A of pawl stones 190 rotate in the directions indicated by arrows B and C, respectively, so that both sides in the thickness direction of silicon material 142 are rotated. The eaves portion 178 and the sliding surface 190A of the pawl 190 slide. Here, the ankle pawl 190 is an example of another member.

In the escape wheel & pinion 170 described above, the eaves portion 176 covers a portion of the side surface 142A of the silicon material 142 from the surface of the silicon material 142 in the thickness direction. In addition, the eaves portion 178 covers from the surface of the silicon material 142 in the thickness direction to a portion of the front end surface 142B of the silicon material 142 . As a result, direct application of force to defects (not shown) such as notches or vertical streaks of the silicon material 142 is more reliably suppressed, and the breaking strength of the escape wheel & pinion 170 is further increased.

Also, in the escape wheel 170, the eaves portion 178 contacts the sliding surface 190A of the pawl stone 190. Since the contact area between the eaves portion 178 and the sliding surface 190A is small, the coefficient of friction is reduced. . Therefore, the eaves portion 178 and the sliding surface 190A can be slid relatively smoothly. Further, by making the hardness of the eaves portion 178 higher than that of the eaves portion 176, the wear resistance of the eaves portion 178 is improved.

Further, as shown in FIG. 18, lubricating oil 180 may be retained or accumulated between the tip surface 142B of the silicon material 142 and the sliding surface 190A of the pawl 190. As shown in FIG. As a result, the lubricating oil 180 enters between the eaves portion 178 and the sliding surface 190A, and the eaves portion 178 and the sliding surface 190A can slide more smoothly.

〔supplementary explanation〕
In the first to fifth embodiments, examples of the balance spring or the escape wheel and pinion are shown as timepiece components, but the present invention is not limited to these. For example, the present invention can also be applied to timepiece parts such as ankles.

In addition, in the first to fifth embodiments, metal laminates as metal layers were provided on both sides of the silicon material, and eaves where the metal laminates protrude from the side surfaces of the silicon material were provided. is not limited to For example, a metal laminate as a metal layer may be provided on one side of the silicon material, and a canopy portion projecting from the side surface of the silicon material may be provided.

Further, in the first, second, fourth and fifth embodiments, almost the entire metal laminate as the metal layer of the silicon material is provided with a canopy portion in which the metal laminate protrudes from the side surface of the silicon material. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a configuration may be employed in which a portion of the metal layered body made of a silicon material is provided with a canopy portion in which the metal layered body protrudes from the side surface of the silicon material.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the embodiments, these embodiments are merely examples, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Further, the scope of rights of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist of the present invention.

10. Mustache spring (an example of watch parts)
18A through hole 22 silicon material 22A side surface 24 first metal film (an example of a metal layer)
26 Second metal film (an example of a metal layer)
28 outer metal layer (an example of a metal layer)
30 Metal laminate (an example of a metal layer)
32 Eaves part 34 Eaves part 54 Kana (an example of driving material)
54C mounting part (an example of a shaft part)
58 Deformation part 60 Kana (an example of the driving material)
60A Mounting portion 60B Tapered surface 72 Metal laminate 74 Overhead portion 76 Overhead portion 78 Deformed portion 80 Shaft 80 Kana (an example of a driving material)
80A shaft 84 adhesive 90 silicon material 90A side surface 92 outer metal layer (an example of a metal layer)
94 Metal laminate (an example of a metal layer)
96 outer metal layer (an example of a metal layer)
98 Metal laminate (an example of a metal layer)
100 clock 106 movement 108 dial 130 escape wheel (an example of clock parts)
142 Silicon material 142A Side surface 142B Tip surface (example of side surface)
144 Metal laminate (an example of a metal layer)
146 Eaves part 160 Escape wheel (an example of clock parts)
170 escape wheel (an example of clock parts)
174 Metal laminate (an example of a metal layer)
176 Eaves portion 178 Eaves portion 180 Lubricating oil 190 Nail stone 190A Sliding surface

Claims (13)

a metal layer provided on at least one of the surfaces on both end sides in the thickness direction of the silicon material;
an eaves portion formed on at least a part of the metal layer and protruding from a side surface of the silicon material formed along the thickness direction of the metal layer;
a through hole provided in the silicon material and penetrating in the thickness direction of the silicon material;
has
The silicon material is provided with the metal layer and the eaves projecting from the side surface forming the through hole of the silicon material to the inside of the through hole,
In a state in which the shaft portion of the driving member is driven into the through hole of the silicon material, the eaves portion is deformed so as to enter the through hole side so that the shaft portion is driven into the through hole of the silicon material. watch parts held in a metal layer provided on at least one of the surfaces on both end sides in the thickness direction of the silicon material;
an eaves portion formed on at least a part of the metal layer and protruding from a side surface of the silicon material formed along the thickness direction of the metal layer;
a through hole provided in the silicon material and penetrating in the thickness direction of the silicon material;
has
The silicon material is provided with the metal layer and the eaves projecting from the side surface forming the through hole of the silicon material to the inside of the through hole,
Between the deformed portion in which the eaves portion is deformed so as to enter the through-hole side in a state in which the shaft portion of the driving member is driven into the through-hole of the silicon material, and the shaft portion and the silicon material. A timepiece component in which the shaft portions are held in the through holes of the adjacent silicon members by the filled adhesive. a metal layer provided on at least one of the surfaces on both end sides in the thickness direction of the silicon material;
an eaves portion formed on at least a part of the metal layer and protruding from a side surface of the silicon material formed along the thickness direction of the metal layer;
has
The metal layer and the eaves are provided on both sides of both ends in the thickness direction of the silicon material,
A timepiece component in which the eaves portion contacts a sliding surface of another member . a metal layer provided on at least one of the surfaces on both end sides in the thickness direction of the silicon material;
an eaves portion formed on at least a part of the metal layer and protruding from a side surface of the silicon material formed along the thickness direction of the metal layer;
has
The silicon material has a negative temperature coefficient of Young's modulus between 0 and 100° C.,
The metal layer is a timepiece component made of a metal material having a positive temperature coefficient of Young's modulus between 0 and 100.degree. 5. A timepiece component according to claim 1, 2 or 4, wherein the metal layer and the eaves are provided on both sides of the silicon material in the thickness direction. 3. The timepiece component according to claim 2 , wherein the adhesive is filled between the shaft portion and the silicone material from the opposite side of the deformed portion entering the through hole side in the axial direction of the shaft portion. . The timepiece component according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein the eaves cover from both end surfaces in the thickness direction of the silicon material to part of the side surfaces. 6. A timepiece component according to claim 5 , wherein said eaves portion contacts a sliding surface of another member. 9. A timepiece component according to claim 3, wherein a lubricant is held between said side surface of said silicon member provided with said eaves and said sliding surface. The silicon material has a negative temperature coefficient of Young's modulus between 0 and 100° C.,
A timepiece component according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the metal layer is made of a metal material having a positive temperature coefficient of Young's modulus between 0 and 100°C. Movement comprising a timepiece component according to any one of claims 1 to 10 . A timepiece comprising a movement according to claim 11 . a step of forming a metal layer having a predetermined pattern on at least one of the surfaces on both end sides in the thickness direction of the silicon substrate;
a step of processing the silicon substrate by reactive ion etching to form an eaves portion projecting from the side surface of the silicon substrate along the thickness direction of the metal layer on at least a part of the metal layer;
After the reactive ion etching, a step of performing wet plating for further projecting the eaves on the side surface along the thickness direction of the silicon substrate;
A method for manufacturing a watch component having

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